Literacy Month at Canada Royal Arts High School

Literacy is a crucial skill that enables us to communicate and understand important concepts in our everyday life. When you walk into a restaurant, you can read the menu and have an idea of what food you may be interested in. If you are buying your compass card or bus ticket, you are understanding the prices and making an informed decision that suits your needs. When you visit the Doctor’s office and receive your Doctor’s note for medication, you are aware of what medicine you need to take, the dose, and for how long.

Reading Improves your Thinking

Having good literacy is more than just reading and remembering vocabulary. It is about being able to understand the world around us, whether it’s written, visual, or in graphic form. Communicating with the outside world and being able to make informed decisions is empowering for everyone. Being literate allows individuals to express themselves clearly through their thoughts, feelings, and ideas.

At Canada Royal Arts High School, we have been emphasizing the importance of literacy at our school. We have a culturally diverse group of students with different levels of English abilities. In order to prepare them for their future education and workplace environments, we are starting with one of the best and simplest ways to improve literacy: reading!

Students at Canada Royal Arts High School will be:
1) Dropping everything and Reading!
Twice a week for 20 minutes, everyone in the school will stop what they are doing and focus on reading a designated piece of literature (magazine, novel, or comic book).
2) Teacher Mentors
Once a week, students will meet with their partner teachers to track their progress. Teachers will team-read out loud, discuss vocabulary, answer any questions, and ensure the student is understanding their reading material.
3) Book Review Sticky-Notes
Students will recommend and review reading material they have finished by writing a short opinion on a sticky note. The next student to pick up the same literature will have a short blurb on the previous reader’s opinion.